Definitions and Scope

Target Population: [name of target group]

[identify target group and define who is included or excluded in this category: you want to get it just right: not too broad that it includes those you may not want to include, and not too narrow that it excludes those you want to help. You might be too exclusive: e.g. defining ‘vulnerable’ seniors as ‘low-income’, but you may want to include those without family support. Therefore, you may want to define vulnerable as ‘poor and/or with low family support’. You might be too inclusive: e.g. ‘latchkey kids’ may include those who have working parents, or those with serious behavioural problems.]

A study of 6618 persons with mental illness aged 18 and above found that alcohol abuse had the largest treatment gap at 96.2% followed by obsessive compulsive disorder at 89.8% (Chong et al. 2012)

Desired impact for target group

[If we have no conception of what counts as a ‘good death’, ‘social inclusion’, ‘engaged youth’ , then it would not be possible to determine whether our policies and services are performing well]

Needs of Adults with mental health issues

Need for fair employment practices

The rate of unemployment among people with mental illness was 11.1 per cent, compared with 6.7 per cent among those without mental illness (Choo, 2016).

Need for Psycho-Education to Improve Self-Esteem

A study of 280 multi-ethnic mentally-ill patients found that 82.9% of them had high stigma resistance which is described as the ability to resist or counteract stigma or remain unaffected by stigma. They found that increasing self-esteem and psychological health could counteract the effects of public stigmatisation. (Lau Y. W., Picco, L., Pang, S., Jeyagurunathan, A., Satghare., P, Chong, S.A., Subramaniam, M. (2017) Stigma resistance and its association with internalised stigma and psychosocial outcomes among psychiatric outpatients. Psychiatry Research. Vol 257, Pg 72-78.)

Need for Emotional and Social Support

A population-wide study found significant stigma towards people with mental illness which was reduced among groups of people who had a close tie, either a family member or friend who suffers from mental illness (Chong, S.A., Abdin, E., Vaingankar, J.A., Kwok, K.A., Subramaniam, M., (2012) Where do people with mental health disorders in Singapore go to for help? Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. Vol 41(4) pp 154-160).

[Also indicate the size of this specific need & projected demand were data is available]

Existing Resources

[e.g. existing services or programmes both private or public; relevant policies and legislation]